


Returning

by ohboromir



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Children of Hurin - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 17:36:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13195149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohboromir/pseuds/ohboromir
Summary: He could feel her gaze on him. Proud. Stern. She knew. She knew who he was, what he had done. His eyes met hers in an unspoken exchange and Beleg waved a hand for Mablung to lead Nienor back to Doriath.  If Mablung had questions, then he didn’t voice them.Once they were alone, she spoke.





	Returning

Of all people, he had expected Mablung the least.

For his friend and fellow captain to be so far from the borders could only mean trouble. The frantic look on his face did nothing to soothe the sudden spark of fear.

“Mablung!” It feels strange to be speaking in Sindarin again. How long had it been since he had left Doriath? A year? Two?  He could not remember. “What is going on - you look troubled, mellon.”

“Beleg?” Surprise did not suit Mablung. “Oh, thank Eru. They said you were never coming back - but I told them! I told them you would come back!” Whatever his troubles were, they were forgotten as he clapped his friend on the arm, pulling him in for an embrace.

“I…Yes. I came back.” He almost hadn’t. “But I will spare you the details, mellon. I am sure I will have to share them later and I do not want to repeat them more than once. Are you heading back to Menegroth?”

“Ah. No.” His worry returned in an instant. “I cannot. I was sent to accompany Morwen of  Dor-lómin in search of -”

“Morwen? As in -”

“Yes. But we were separated. I can find neither her nor her daughter. I will not return to Doriath without them.”

Beleg only nodded, turning his attention to the path. They would be found even if he had to search for years. He had promised Túrin. Perhaps this would be a kind of atonement.

Their search led them deeper into the forest, the pair falling back into a well known routine. Despite the circumstances, it was good to see Mablung again. If he’d had the mind to try, he might have been able to pretend it was just like old times. Just the two of them and their goal.

“There!”

The girl was hidden within the bushes, but the undergrowth was not thick enough to hide her from well trained eyes. Mablung bounded over, offering her his hand.

“Lady Nienor. Are you hurt?”

She was not at all like Túrin, Beleg thought. She was younger by several years although he could not guess her actual age, but almost as tall. But where Túrin had been stern, she was smiling.

He found it harder to focus on her. Would she be saddened to know the fate of a brother she had never known?

With the young woman in tow, they followed the trail. Morwen proved easier to find than her daughter - in fact, it was more like  _she_  had found  _them._ She had followed the path back towards Doriath.

He could feel her gaze on him. Proud. Stern.  _She knew._ She knew who he was, what he had done. His eyes met hers in an unspoken exchange and Beleg waved a hand for Mablung to lead Nienor back to Doriath.  If Mablung had questions, then he didn’t voice them.

Once they were alone, she spoke.

“Where is he?”

“I…” What could he say? That Túrin had been dragged away to Angband, facing a painful death - or worse, a life of thralldom? Beleg was not a parent himself, but he knew the agony of losing Túrin like this must be as terrible for her as it was for him.

“Tell me, elf. Did he suffer? Could you have saved him?”

_He died a noble death. He took fifty Orcs down with him. He was slain by their leader in a duel._

No. This was not something he should lie about - at least not to Morwen.

_I might have saved him, but I was weak. I lay there and groaned in pain while he was being dragged away. I did not go after him, I could not._

But he couldn’t find the words to tell her. His voice failed him, his grief finally overtaking him. He fell to his knees, begging her forgiveness between shuddering sobs. 

“I failed.” Morwen only watched him, her stern face damp with tears. His sobbing said what his words could not. “They took him. I was wounded and they took him!”

Further explanations could wait until the grief was not so near. Beleg’s sobs faded as he was faced with only cold silence and he stood. His voice was hoarse

“Come, my lady. We should not linger here. If it is your wish to remain in Doriath, then we have no need of further talk. But I gave your son my word that I would protect any of his kin who still lived. Should you leave this city, I would be your willing companion.”

“We do not need your aid, elf.”

“I know. But I will give it regardless. I will not break my word to him.”

She studied him, with a look he had seen so often on Túrin’s face. She nodded to herself, touching his shoulder briefly.

“Thank you.”

And then she turned back to Doriath.


End file.
